The Ressurection
by shegoismyfav
Summary: The Sanderson sisters are back! But not because of Max Dennison and the black flame candle. It's not even Halloween. It's because of a woman. A woman with very strong ties to the sisters, Winifred in particular. What will the witches do now that they're in 2014 Salem?
1. Prologue

Purple smoke billowed from a chimney. The house that claimed the chimney was a small cottage deep in the Massachusetts woods. The cottage belonged to three witches. Sisters, by the names of Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson. And the oldest, Winifred, had a child.

Said child was young, only four years old, but she was already very adept at magic. Beautiful curly red hair, blue eyes, and a petite frame, she was the spitting image of her mother. Her aunts were not so similar physically or magically. Mary was the middle sister and was brunette, brown-eyed, somewhat lacking in intelligence, and not very powerful. Her only useful talent was sniffing out children. Sarah, the youngest, was blonde, blue-eyed, and the least intelligent. Her magic was the weakest, her only talent being her ability to entrance children with her voice.

But magic, any magic, had a price.

This night, Winifred was brewing a potion to reverse age, as they had paid for their magic with their youth. Her daughter was happily playing with her pet cat, levitating and lowering it. Sarah had just lured a little girl from the town into the cottage so they could steal her life force. Winifred had put her under a spell and now she sat deathly still in a chair. What the three women didn't know was that the girl's brother, Thackeray, had followed his sister to the cottage with the intent of saving her. He was hiding behind a support beam on the second floor, but Mary smelled him.

"Winnie," she said, tapping her sister on the shoulder, "I smell a child."

Annoyed, Winifred spun around. "Nyah, and what does thou call that?!" she asked, gesturing to the still girl.

"A child?"

"Hmph!" She spun back around, going over to the cauldron. "Sisters, gather round! One thing more and all is done! Add a bit of thine own tongue." They spat into the potion, causing it to turn green. "Tis ready for tasting," she said as she filled a large wooden spoon.

The three approached the girl, and she obediently opened her mouth.

"No!" Thackeray yelled, jumping to the ground floor.

"A boy!" Sarah cried happily.

At the soft of the boy, Winifred's daughter scrambled behind a shelf of empty vials, peering around the edge to see the outcome.

"A boy! Oh, I knew I smelled a child!" Mary gloated.

"Don't just stand there! Get him, you fools!" Winifred screeched. Thackeray stepped behind the cauldron, and Winifred's eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen. "Keep him away from my cauldron!" she shrieked.

Mary and Sarah rushed toward the cauldron. Thackeray, sensing he was trapped, shoved the cauldron toward the sisters. They pushed it back, but when he shoved it again it came off its hook, knocking the two back and spilling onto the floor. Winifred screamed angrily and conjured lightning, her special talent. It shot from her hands, shocking and killing Thackeray instantly. Mary, sitting up from where she had knocked over a shelf of bottles, noticed a silvery aura around their captive.

"Winnie, Winnie, look," she said, pointing to the child.

"Ah," Winifred said with a smile as she caught sight of the aura. "The potion works! Take my hands, we will share her."

"Oh Winnie, how generous of thee!" Mary said excitedly.

The three women joined hands and began to suck in the silver aura. The child began to lose color in her hair and cheeks. Winifred's daughter watched in awe. As one, all three women dropped their heads, and the little girl in the chair slumped forward, dead.

"Sisters! Behold!" Winifred gasped.

"I...am...beautiful! Boys will love me!" Sarah cried, straightening.

She now appeared to be in her late twenties, rather than the old hag she had been minutes before.

"We're young!" Mary laughed, clapping her hands.

Winifred spun around, clutching a small band mirror. Her hair was now a bright fiery red, and her face was free of wrinkles. But her front teeth made her look uglier than her two sisters.

"Well, _younger_," she said calmly. "But, it's a start!"

Amazed, her daughter crept out from her hiding place. She studied her mother from afar before deciding she did indeed look like the mother she remembered from a few months prior.

"Mommy!" the younger redhead called.

Winifred's eyes darted to her child. Immediately, her face softened, and she smiled. She may be evil, but her daughter was her pride and joy, and the only thing she loved as much as her Master. She crouched down, opening her arms, and her daughter ran to her. She scooped her up, clutching her to her chest. She hadn't been very affectionate as of late, mainly due to her mother's haggard appearance.

Suddenly, a banging came on the door. Winifred's eyes widened as she saw the torches through the windows.

"Witches!" came the angry shouts from outside. "Daughters of darkness! Open the door!"

"Hide the children!" Winifred hissed to her sisters.

Quickly, Mary and Sarah three blankets over the two bodies. Shifting her daughter, who had buried her face in her neck in fright, to one arm, she threw her weight against the door.

"Witches? There be no witches here!" Mary called in a high voice, throwing her weight against the door also.

"We're just three kindly old spinster ladies!" Winifred called.

"Spending a quiet evening at home!" added Mary.

"Sucking the lives out of little children!" Sarah yelled happily, oblivious to the danger just outside.

Winifred screamed in rage, her free hand shooting to the blonde's throat to choke her. The townspeople had heard enough, and began to break down the door. Quickly, leaving Mary to guard the door, Winifred darted to the trapdoor that led to the cellar. Inside was a small escape tunnel in case of fire. She opened it, kissed her daughter on the head, and lowered her inside. She had just replaced the rug that covered the trapdoor when when the front door burst open and dozens of angry men stormed in.

From her hiding place, the little girl heard the sound of many men stomping around. She heard her aunts crying, asking her mother what they should do. Her mother never said a word.

When the house was once again calm she chanced coming out of her hiding place. She crept to the window and looked out. It was dark now, showing how much time had passed since they came. The townspeople had fashioned a hanging platform with three barrels and rope strung over a tree limb, and her mother and aunts stood upon them. Each had their hands bound and wore a necklace of rope.

One man held Book, and she noticed its eye was closed. That wasn't good. It's eye was always open, always.

"Hast thou chosen to repent of thy devil-worship?" a man, obviously the leader, called out.

"Never!" her mother cried.

"Then thou must suffer the punishment!"

He waved a hand, and the barrels fell. She screamed as she watched her family die. A woman nearest the door heard her scream above the gasp of the crowd and turned her head just in time to see a flash of purple in the window. Stepping away from her husband, she slipped through the door. Entering, she saw a small child huddled in a corner trying to hide. She was wearing a purple dress.

She called to her husband, who came and brought with him some other men.

"Look! Tis a child that hath lived!" she said.

"Indeed. Come here, child. We shall take thee to thy parents."

Knowing she had no other choice, the child went over to the couple and they escorted her from the house.


	2. The Ressurection

Celest Sanderson was a very well-known figure in Salem, Massachusetts. As the only living direct descendant of the Sanderson Sisters, she owned what had once been their house. She gave tours of the cottage and grounds, pointing out where the witches were hanged. The tours were very popular and made a lot of money, though she didn't need it. She was quite a wealthy woman, with a net worth of over ten million dollars. Nobody could understand where she got her money, as she was only twenty-four.

It was rumored that she was a descendant of industrial tycoons JP Morgan and Rockefeller. Some thought she had merely made wise investments with inherited money.

But the truth was far more unbelievable than any rumor.

Celest Sanderson was actually Celestial Sanderson, daughter of Winifred Sanderson and Satan. And she wasn't a descendant of JP Morgan, she had been his wife. Yes, being immortal had its perks. But then, it also had its downfalls. She had birthed and outlived sixteen children, and some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Those that were still alive she had severed contact with. As it was she already had to use glamors to hide her actual age and make it seem as though she were aging.

And then there was the nightmare. She had had the same one every night for 321 years, and in all that time it never changed. It always started in the moments after her mother regained her youth. She would experience the whole night in vivid detail, right up to the moment her mother and aunts were hanged. She would always wake up after that, sometimes screaming, sometimes panting heavily. She missed her mother terribly, and often thought of her when she was conjuring magic.

Her mother had been a very powerful witch, but Celest, as she was now known, far surpassed her. Over three centuries she had managed to do what her mother never could; live. When she was sixteen she had created a potion and a spell, that when combined, granted the user eternal life. She had also created her own book of spells. She now had two spell books at her disposal, hers and her mother's.

This was to her advantage, because tonight, she was going to bring her mother back.

* * *

><p>Celest stood in a pentagram carved into the dirt before the cottage, both spell books open before her. She was wearing a replica of her mother's dress in her signature colors; purple and silver. Her magical aura pulsed and glowed around her as she gathered her magic. Her arms were out to either side of her body, the palms of her hands glowing white. Her eyes were closed as her mind sorted out the proper spell, a combination of an original from her mother's book and one of her own.<p>

With the spell locked firmly in her mind, her eyes snapped open, glowing purple, and she began to speak.

"Father and Master," she called, her voice taking on a deep, otherworldly pitch, "I ask that you release my mother and aunts from their eternal damnation and servitude." Her right hand pulled a dagger out of the sleeve of her dress. "As my mother before me, I give you my blood and soul in exchange for their lives. I pledge to serve you for the rest of my days!"

She brought the blade down on her left forearm, blood leaking from the wound slowly, the droplets rolling down her wrist and splattering the ground inside the pentagram. Within seconds her arm sealed and the blood sank into the ground. In front of her, the demonic symbol took on an unearthly red glow. A violent wind began to whip around and lightning began to strike the edges of the symbol. Her aura intensified as she prepared to cast the spell.

"Antropica norte calma bene galmo maca!" she screamed.

Her aura exploded out from her body as the spell was completed. The pentagram remained resplendent as her own light faded. The ground began to shake and a loud cackling laughter filled the air. Lightning struck and three figures materialized. The pentagram' slight faded and the wind died down.

Celest waved her hand and some torches around her lit. Their glow illuminated the face of the three figures, revealing her mother and aunts. Understandably, they wore confused looks on their faces. Sarah and Mary were holding onto each other in fright while Winifred looked around. She was the first to spot Celest.

"Who art thou?" she called, lightning flickering across her hands in self defense.

"Celestial Sanderson, your daughter," Celest called back.

Winifred took a step back, shock and disbelief lighting her features. Her face then hardened, anger apparent.

"Tis impossible! My daughter was born in the year 1689. Thou art an imposter!" she screamed, anger and a hint of sadness apparent in her voice.

Lightning flew from her fingertips. Celest absorbed it into her own hands before firing it back, intentionally missing. Winifred jumped back, fear flickering in her eyes. Feels took a step forward, feeling a pang of sadness as she watched her mother step in front of her aunts to shield them from what she perceived as a threat.

"Mother," she called, "look."

With that she waved a hand, changing her appearance to that of her four-year-old self. She felt her body folding in on itself as she compressed into her new body. Winifred's eyes widened as she watched the unknown woman transform into her daughter. She remained frozen as the child came up to them. Her sisters screamed in fear.

"Mommy," said the child, looking up at her.

Winifred stared down into the face of what was undoubtedly her daughter. The red hair, the blue eyes, the body frame; she was hers. Her eyes teared up as she looked at the child she thought she would never see again. Celest, seeing this, took the opportunity to wrap herself around her mother's hips. In seconds she was lifted into the woman's arms.

She buried her head in her neck, tears slipping down her cheeks. She had done it! She had brought them back!

Mary and Sarah watched the pair in confusion. On one hand, Winnie never hugged anyone but Celestial. But on the other hand, Winnie had admitted that Celestial should be dead. They looked at each other, shrugged, and continued to watch.

"Celestial, my child," Winifred murmured in disbelief.

Perhaps this was one of her lover's tricks. She adored and worshipped him, and he was kind to her. After all, Book had been a gift when she pledged her service to him. And she had given him a child, though it **would** have been preferable if it was a son. But he sometimes liked to play pranks on her and her sisters. Although, she reasoned, he had never done anything involving their daughter.

"Mommy," Celest whimpered over and over.

"Winnie? Is she...?" Mary ventured to ask.

"Yes," she replied softly, still slightly dazed.

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Winnie, look!" Sarah called excitedly, pointing to Book.

"Where did thou get that?" she asked her daughter.

"From the man who took me away," she replied. Noticing her mother's confused look, she elaborated. "After you were hanged, a couple from the village took me in. They thought I was a child you had kidnapped. They tried to make me go to church and be a good little girl, but I could never make it passed the doorframe without feeling like my insides were burning.

"I would scream and cry and make a scene. It embarrassed them so much that they didn't want me. So I took Book and ran away. Daddy found me by myself in the woods and took me to hell with him. I stayed there for a few years until I was old enough to live alone. He brought me back and I lived here at the cottage."

Her head spinning, Winifred managed to string together her next question.

"How art thou still alive?"

"When I was sixteen I created a spell and a potion that when combined give the caster immortality."

"And what is the year?"

"Two thousand and fourteen."

"Sisters! We have been gone for three hundred and twenty-one years!"

Winifred put Celest down and scooped up her beloved book. Celest shifted back to her adult form, though she kept the glamors down. Her mother was now forced to look up at her.

"Yes, and it's been a very long three centuries," Celest said quietly. "Come with me. I need to brew the potion to give you eternal life."

She picked up her own spell book and led the way to her mansion, which was just down the road from the cottage.


	3. Immortality and All That Goes with It

Celest's mansion was a large building with colonial design. Six marble pillars adorned the front entryway, and a large chandelier hung from the front porch ceiling. The mansion itself had forty rooms and was three stories tall. The inside entryway was brightly lit and inviting, as was the rest of the house, except for a few rooms in the east wing which housed a portal to hell and her magical supplies. It had authentic furniture from the late 1700s, all mahogany and dark oak. When inside, one got the feeling they were in that time period. Surrounded by a large hedge that doubled as a barrier to the world, her estate was private, and the world was oblivious to her witchcraft. Celest felt it was a home to be proud of, and from the look on her family's faces, they agreed.

She led them into her potions room and closed the door. The room was spacious and open, with the exception of a large cauldron in the center, which she lit with a flick of her wrist. Shelves and stands were staggered around, each filled with potion ingredients. There was a large bay window, currently covered, for spells that required moonlight. Propping her book on one of the many stands, she opened it to the correct set of pages and began gathering ingredients.

"Mother," she called over her shoulder, "will you please help me?"

Glad to be back practicing magic, Winifred gleefully began to help her daughter brew the potion. By the end of the brewing process the potion was a sickly green.

"Okay, now for the final ingredient. Hold out your arms." The three complied, and Celest quickly drew a small amount of blood from each of them. She tapped the blade over the cauldron, causing the brew to turn a brilliant gold. "There. Now, you'll each need to read the spell, preferably one at a time, and drink a spoonful of this."

"How will we know if it works?" Winifred asked.

"We test it," Celest replied calmly.

Wary of the look on her daughter's face, Winifred recited the spell and drank the potion. Despite what had gone into the brew, it tasted very sweet, almost like candy. Bearable to a witch, but not preferable. She felt the magic race through her system as she drank the potion, and when the sensation ended she felt almost invincible. Seeing the blissful expression on her mother's face, Celest calmly slipped her pistol from its hiding place beneath her dress and fired, the bullet entering Winifred's stomach.

The woman hissed in pain, and then reached down and removed the bullet. Blood began to pool on her dress before suddenly stopping and receding, the wound closing. Sarah and Mary watched in awe.

"Well, that answers that question," Celest said calmly as she cocked the pistol. "Who's next?"

* * *

><p>Later on, after it had been established that the potion did indeed work, Celest gave her mother and aunts a tour of the house. In preparation for their arrival, she had taken three of the guest rooms and converted them into bedrooms in her family's signature colors. Her mother's was the closest to her own, as a small part of her still needed the reassurance that she was actually alive and well.<p>

Dawn was approaching as she finished the tour. Celest was exhausted and she felt the urge for a hot shower and to collapse into bed. Her mother and aunts showed no signs of fatigue. She was nervous to leave them to their own devices while she slept, but she had no choice. The mass amounts of magic she had exuded had drained her, and if she didn't sleep soon she would collapse. Stumbling slightly, she gathered her towels and pajamas for her shower.

The sun was already up when she stepped out of the bathroom, still rubbing at her hair with a towel. To her surprise, Sarah was waiting for her.

"Aunt Sarah, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Winnie told me to watch you while she's out."

"Aunt Sarah, I don't need to be..." She let the sentence trail as she realized exactly what her aunt had said. "Wait, did you say she went out? Where did she go?"

"Flying," Sarah said calmly.

Celest began to get nervous. Her mother never flew just to fly. Whenever she went out it was for something sinister. And it was dawn, if someone were to see her she would have to wipe the whole town's memory.

"Aunt Sarah, do you want to see something amazing?" Celest asked, desperate to distract her so she could get out.

"I suppose."

She led her into the entertainment room, where she turned on the tv and flipped to a modeling channel. Sarah was immediately distracted by the sight of so many men. Quickly, before her aunt could notice, she slipped out of the room and through the back door, broom in hand. She studied the skies, half-hoping to see her mother's silhouette. There was no sign of her, so she had no choice but to cast an invisibility charm and search the skies. At first, she frantically searched the skies and ground.

Then it hit her.

Her mother was very intelligent. She would never fly during the day and she wouldn't explore Salem without her. That left only one place she would go. Sighing in relief, Celest pivoted her broom and flew toward the cottage. She landed gracefully on the front stoop, looking through the front windows to see if her mother was inside.

She couldn't see her, and quickly opened the door to confirm the sight. Winifred wasn't inside, and she felt panic rushing to the forefront of her mind. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a soft sound from upstairs. She paused, listening for the sound to come again. It did, and it sounded suspiciously like muffled sobbing.

Silently, she made her way up the stairs. She froze in the doorway, shock covering her features. Winifred was lying face-down on her bed, crying quietly into a pillow. Mary was sitting beside her, rubbing her back and murmuring soothing words. Celest wisely remained quiet.

"It's okay, Winnie," Mary said softly.

"No, it isn't! I was supposed to be here for her! I was supposed to raise her! I was supposed to protect her!"

Celest realized with a start that she was the reason her mother was crying.

"You couldn't help it. We both know it was Sarah's fault."

The hanging, they were talking about the hanging.

"Twas my fault, too! We could have escaped!"

"Winnie, she couldn't fly yet and your broom only holds one. We never would have made it."

"No, no, it was my fault. She was orphaned because of my dim-wittedness. I'm a horrible mother! She would have been better off if she'd have been born to someone else!"

Winifred dissolved into tears after her admission, her body heaving with the force of her sobs. Celest had heard enough. She remembered how wonderful her mother was. She had done everything she could to help her further her magic and she had always tried to make sure she knew she was loved. She dropped her invisibility charm, stepping up to the side of the bed.

She tapped Mary on the shoulder and signaled for her to leave. The brunette's eyes darted between her distraught sister and her niece, who at that moment looked every one of her 325 years. As much as she wanted to help her sister, she knew Celest was the only one who could comfort her. They switched places and Celest gave her aunt a sad smile. Winifred didn't even notice.

She waited until she heard the front door close before touching her mother. The sobs vibrated up her arm and throughout her body, causing her heart to ache as she physically felt her mother's pain.

"Mother," she whispered, her voice broken and sad. The older witch stiffened, both from shock and embarrassment. She hadn't meant for her daughter to see her cry. "You were wonderful when I was a child. Without your help I never would have expanded my magic.

"You loved me and you made it known." Her hand began rubbing the older witch's back. "I couldn't have had a better mother if I tried, even if I had chosen myself. I wouldn't be who I am today had I been born to a different woman. I am who I am because of **you**."

Tears were streaming down Celest's cheeks, and Winifred was sobbing quietly again. Celest was happy she had finally expressed her gratitude to her mother for everything she had done for her as a child, yet sad because the circumstances weren't what she hoped they'd be.

As sadness and guilt consumed her for making her mother cry, she felt the control on her magic slip. Her body began shrinking as her subconscious took control. In mere seconds she was the size of a toddler, and she wasted no time in using her newfound size to her advantage. She couldn't curl into her mother's chest since Winifred was on her stomach, so she gently curled up on her back.

It was times like this that her inner child took over her thought process. A therapist she visited briefly told her that it was the result of watching her family die and having to care for herself. She supposed the woman was right, although before now she had never taken on the physical form of a child.

Winifred, finally calming herself down, took notice of the extra weight on her back. She reached behind her and pulled the child off. She was shocked to see that she was crying, and quickly sat up and pulled her to her chest. Celest cuddled close, enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in her mother's arms. She noticed that the longer she stayed in a child's body the more childlike she became.

"Hush, my little demon. Mummy's here," Winifred cooed, forgetting, at the sight of her daughter's tears, that she had been sobbing moments before.

"Mommy," Celest gasped out, "I'm sorry I made you cry!"

"My little devil, it's okay, calm down. Thou did not make me cry. I was upset because I realized how much you needed me; how badly I failed thee. But what Mary said art true. I realize now that if I hadn't hidden you they t'would have hung thee alongside us."

The child's tears slowed as the truth of her mother's words reverberated through her mind. But she wondered how horrible it would really have been to die. Hell had been a beautiful place to her, as she was sure it had been to her mother and aunts as well. And she had been waited on by servants, as she was the princess of hell. The only downside, she concluded, was that she would have felt the snap of her neck and the life drain out of her body. At least then she would have been with her mother.

Even more exhausted now than she was before, she relaxed completely, slowly drifting to sleep. Winifred, now worn out as well, sighed and closed her eyes. If she were lucky, perhaps she would dream of her Master.


End file.
